Challenging the Status Quo: Innovation in CTE

Tana Black 2017-10-6

At NTHS, we consider ourselves both honored and fortunate to be surrounded by such an amazing group of educators and professionals. They are our advocates and our supporters, and they strengthen our organization with their knowledge and experience in Career and Technical Education.

Recently, our NTHS board member, Alexander Bell from Jamaica, New York was published in the ACTE‘s blog, “Educators in Action,” and we thought you’d like to hear some of his thoughts…

“In my many years as a teacher of technology in the New York City public high school system, I’ve found that my drive to not follow the status quo—whether it’s integrating something new into my classes each school year or finding fresh ways to advocate for my program—has been a constant underlying factor to my success as a CTE instructor. Not only that, “innovating” has truly made – and continues to make—my teaching career vastly engaging, tremendously satisfying, and even therapeutic in the midst of the hard-lined politics that surround the business of education.

Despite the challenges we face as teachers, I thrive on the success stories of my students. I’ve lost count of how many of my former students have created rewarding careers and comfortable lifestyles because of the technology skills they directly acquired and still utilize from their tenure in my CTE classroom.

“Innovation” to me has been integral to two main areas of my role as an instructor:

The National Technical Honor Society serves over 100,000 student members annually. Awarding over $1.7 million in scholarships to date, NTHS honors the achievements of top CTE students, provides scholarships to encourage the pursuit of higher education, and cultivates excellence in today’s highly competitive, skilled workforce.